Naruto: The Next Generation Of Sannin:Redux
by Dark Ventruss
Summary: Koji, Iyasu, and Unido are fresh Genin of the Leaf. Assigned to a lazy but powerful instructor can they over come the multiple challenges of growing up and being a part of a Ninja world about to be thrown back into turmoil?
1. Chapter 1

**So i know this story shares a similar title and characters to one i have not finished. I do not believe i will finish that one though instead ive decided to restart it with this one. I had written myself into a corner there and was not certain where to continue on nor how to make each challenge greater than the one before without going over the top for that point in the story. Sorry to the readers of that story though if they'd like they can read on here since it should hopefully cover some of the characters that they came to know. If they'd prefer not to its completely understood, i failed as a writer to deliver on time so my bad there. Anyways without further ado or explanations here is chapter one of the Next Generation of Sannin:Redux.**

Cold.

It wasn't the only sensation he currently felt, just the most prominent. There was also wet, from the rain coming down in a flood above him. Uncomfortable attempted to push through to the front of his mind but he attributed that to the cold, which wet played a part in. As he stared up at the sky, which had decided that this moment needed to be drenched, he couldn't help but wonder what had brought him to this point.

In his right hand, he tightly clutched a pitch-black Katana, forged almost a two decades ago now, which was missing two and a half inches of its blade. His left hand, which lay a few yards from his wrist, was holding onto a worn and dirty cloth with a piece of metal stamped onto it; a tribalistic drawing of a leaf engraved on the metal.

A series of cuts ran down his chest, which was exposed to the elements thanks to his flak jacket and shirt being torn open, with a small amount of blood rolling off him and into the ground. He had given up on getting off the ground, his legs no longer responding to input and instead deciding to wait out the storm, hoping someone would retrieve him before too long or that death would finally claim him.

It was with these thoughts that he allowed his mind to wander, taking itself back to much earlier and simpler time in his life…

"You're running late!" an older female voice called from downstairs.

Looking in the mirror the young teen couldn't help but smirk. He had spent the last three days choosing and rechoosing exactly what would become his combat uniform now that he was officially a member of the Leaf Village's Ninja Corps. After much debate, he ended up wearing a dark blue shirt over a set of mesh armor. Over the shirt he had put on a lightweight black jacket with a cyan stripe running down the arms. A set of mesh leg armor peaked out from under his black ripstop nylon pants, the only downside of which he had found being the inability to sit on some materials without sliding off them immediately. Around his head was tied a dark blue, near black, headband which pushed his pitch colored hair out of his dark brown eyes. To finish off the ensemble he had a tanto strapped to his back.

After giving himself on more once over he ran down the stairs barely stopping to say goodbye to his mother, whose only response was to remind him not to forget his lunch. Rushing out the door he quickly made his way to the academy.

Entering the main classroom, he found an empty seat at the top of the seats by himself, for the moment. That quiet peacefulness didn't last long as only a minute later a large crash was heard before the door opened and his closest friend entered.

"Koji! I made it!" She yelled out before plopping herself down next to him.

Turning to face her Koji noted that she too had changed her look for becoming a Genin. Dark Blue hair was pushed up by a red headband, which offset the deep green of her eyes, that was barely visible. She had also decided mesh armor was a necessity and wore a set that ran from her ankles to about her mid-thigh, perfectly bridging the gap between her ninja shoes and blue bike shorts. A green half shirt, underneath which another mesh armor piece cold be spotted, covered her chest and a blue thigh length jacket with inner white lining completed the clothing.

"I can see that Iyasu." Koji said a slight chuckle coloring his voice.

"So think we'll get to be on the same team?" the girl asked.

"Who knows?" Koji shrugged. "I mean we weren't exactly the greatest students in the world, wouldn't say terrible either though."

"So a hard maybe?" Iyasu pushed.

"Sure let's go with that." Koji laughed.

As the two-continued talking the final seat next to Koji was taken up by another boy. He wore a dark green jacket, which happened to be the shift in color that alerted Koji to his presence, with dual black stripes running down the arms. A grey shirt barely peaked through the buttoned-up jacket. Black pants adorned his legs. His brown hair was spiked and he was the only person other than Iyasu in the room with green eyes. Around his neck a dark green headband was tied.

"Koji, Iyasu." He acknowledged them after sitting.

"Hey Unido."Koji nodded with Iyasu cheerfully waving next to him.

"Ready for the day?" Unido asked the two.

Both nodded and Koji went to open his mouth when a voice at the front of the room told them all to sit down and be quiet. Turning forward the three began to listen to the speech of instructor before being given team assignments, something which they tuned out till they heard their names being called.

"Koji Mezuko, Iyasu Akane, and Unido Herat will form Team Four with Shikadai Nara as your sensie." The instructor said to some fanfare from the back row.

Once he finished giving out the assignments a small group of jounin entered. A few immediately took their Genin and left though a couple stared at the assembled students, evaluating them. One in particular, his black hair tied up into a wolfknot, looked straight at the three in the back. He wore the standard Jounin flak jacket over a black bodysuit, a pair of black pants adorning his legs and his headband stamped to his left bicep. Without a word he signaled the three to follow him….

They had quickly found their way to the rood of the academy without much fanfare, until Koji attempted to sit on the cushioned couch on the overlook. The boy immediately slipped off and to the floor without any grace. After the laughter died down he stood up and just choose to lean against the support beam while staring at his new sensie.

"You know most of the Jounin and Genin are going to be spending the next hour introducing themselves and getting to know each other." The older man said. "We could do that but, eh, it's kind of troublesome. I prefer to get to know you guys through time and let things develop naturally, less work for all of us that way."

The three Genin stared at the man for a moment, confused by just exactly what he was saying. Sighing he rubbed the back of his head before continuing.

"With that in mind I'm hungry, as I'm sure you are too, so let's go eat and then we can begin the test." Shikadai told the three before turning to lead them towards a restruant.

"Wait sensei!" Iyasu yelled out. "What do you mean real test?"

"Well see the academy test was to see if you had the basic skills a Genin require." He explained. "There is a secondary test administered by the Jounin to make sure you're up to their standards. Honestly I would give you the chances of passing but I've never had a team before, much less had to run the test."

"Then how do you have a standard for us?" Koji asked his nostrils flaring in anger at the fact that he had come so far just to be told he wasn't there yet.

"Well I mean I was a Genin once so I figure I will just use myself as a benchmark."Shikadai laughed out. "At that rate you should all pass quite easily really."

The three Genin stood dumbfounded as the man walked down the stairs. They continued to look at each other until he pointed out that he wasn't going to wait for them to eat. At that all three rushed down after him immediately engaging him in basic conversation…


	2. Chapter Two: Teamwork Required

"Okay that wasn't bad but let's try it again." Shikadai ordered.

The three Genin found themselves catching their breath after their last assault on their teacher had failed to produce any major results. Koji's water bullet barrage had been easily batted away with nothing more than a kunai. Iyatsu's shuriken, kunai, and fuma shuriken lay littered in a circle nore more than three feet out from the Jounin. Even Unido's genjutsu had been shrugged off as though it were a fly, easily followed by the boy being thrown back to where his two comrades rested.

"I wasn't that hard on you guys, was I?" Shikadai asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"No sensei, just need to recover slightly." Koji got out between breaths.

"You know an enemy wouldn't give you the chance to catch your breath," Shikadai told them as he brought up three shurikens. "And neither should I."

As the shuriken flew towards them the three Genin each elected a different strategy. Koji took what even the Jounin would call the Nara solution by simply falling to the ground and letting the projectile fly over him. Iyasu let out a small squeak of surprise before leaping above the deadly chunk of metal. Unido seemed to follow the most logical approach and simply sidestepped away from it.

"Well that was entertaining." Shikadai chuckled.

The three Genin glared at him, though none more intense than Koji. The Nara sighed before dropping into a defensive stance as the girl charged towards him, two tonfa in hand. As the sounds of their fight rang through the clearing Koji and Unido nodded to each other before both launching into a series of hand signs.

As they finished a burst of three more water bullets fly out from Koji while Unido slammed his foot against the ground making a large crack traveled towards Shikadai. The Jounin continued to block strikes from Iyatsu, barely dodging the first water bullet from Koji and almost working the fight to put Iyatsu in the path of the other two. His eyebrows jumped quickly as he noticed the ground split closing in, he himself jumping away at the last second.

As he landed, with the crack still slightly following, his footing was slightly off and he ended up having to land with a hand on the ground to stabilize himself. Koji and Iyatsu had both closed in by that point to strike at him, his free arm barely catching both strikes. As Unido closed in he managed to get off the ground and draw a trench knife out of his back pocket.

"I'm a little surprised you got me to pull this old thing out." Shikadai said offhandedly.

"We haven't made progress until we finally get to see one of the famous Nara shadow techniques." Unido told the man.

"You're going to have to fight a lot harder for me to resort to any of those." Shikadai laughed. "They don't just make you a Jounin for amount of time served, though that could indicate strength as well."

"Maybe but if we can keep working together to throw you off we should be able to do it!" Iyatsu exclaimed excitedly.

"And we're not going to give up until we push you to that edge, Sensei!" Koji yelled after her.

With that the three returned to attacking. Koji immediately swung his tanto high as Iyatsu struck low with her tonfa. As Shiakdai reached out to block the attacks he saw Unido finishing some hand signs and a set of earth spikes suddenly came rushing towards him. Disengaging from the two close range fighters he jumped away from the spikes only to see the tanto rushing down to cut into his shoulder.

He defelected the attack away to his left only to find Iyatsu's tonfas about to lay a concussive blow into his stomach. As he spun around the attack, causing the Genin to stumble slightly, Unido appeared in front of him, Kunai ready to plunge into his chest. Without a second thought the Jounin's shadow reached out and warpped around the boys arm, pulling it down and keeping the Kunai from being in a harmful location.

"Yes!" the voices of Iyatsu and Koji yelled out.

Unido grinned a the Jounin before the shadow retreated and all the held weapons were put away. Koji and Iyatsu came running up to cheer with their friend over their victory. As the three Genin spoke quickly and with the gusto only young teens could muster Shikadai looked on smiling.

"You know I think you three are ready." Shikadai said interrupting them.

"For what sensei?" Iyatsu asked tilting her head.

"Missions." Shikadai responded. "Let's go get one from the Hokage."

The three Genin smiled brightly at one another before gathering all of Iyatsu's weapons so they could go get their first official missions…

"Sensei." Koji's voice sighed out.

"Yes Koji?" Shikadai asked from his perch in a tree.

"This can't really be a mission, can it?" Koji responded as he continued to paint the wall with the other two.

"It is." Shikadai chuckled. "Everyone starts here to ensure the teamwork is perfect and to get you all the required missions to take the chunnin exams at some point."

"But seriously, painting a wall?" Koji complained, his two teammates in silent agreement.

"I promise that if we can knock out ten missions this week then I will get us a simple C rank okay?" Shikadai tried to compromise.

Koji and the rest begrudgingly accepted the deal…


	3. Chapter Three: Kusari vs Kanobo

"What do we have next?" the Hokage's voice rang through the small room.

"Team Four under Shikadai Nara." His assistant informed him.

"Shikadai!" the Hokage exclaimed as the team entered. "How did the mission go?"

"All three fields cleared in six hours." Shikadai answered, presenting his team proudly.

"D rank pay will be given. I'm assuming you want a mission for tomorrow to save some time?" the Hokage questioned.

"Yes please." Shikadai nodded.

"Well I have another D Rank-" he began to explain.

"Actally Sir, we were hoping for a C rank if you could." Shikadai interrupted.

The two shared a look between them. The Genin could tell something was happening but could not figure out what was going on. After a few tense moments, the Hokage chuckled slightly and reached for a C rank scroll.

"One of the border towns has asked for help with a bandit problem. From their report their numbers are quite large so this only qualifies as a C rank since you'll be backed up by a team from Rain. Apparently, the bandits having been hitting their border as well." The Hokage informed them.

"Anything we should be aware of before we head out sir?" Shikadai asked while reading through the scroll.

"We think a rouge shinobi is leading them. If you encounter him specifically then be careful, running isn't always cowardice. Sometimes it's the preparation for the next plan." The Hokage advised.

All four thanked them as they bowed. Exiting Shikadai informed them of what time they would be leaving at and they went their separate ways to prepare…

"Koji what did you pack?" Iyasu asked as she came running to the gate of the village.

"A few kunia sets, some extra shuriken, and of course my tanto." Koji answered counting on his fingers. "What about you?"

"Eh you know the normal things. Kunia, Shuriken, Fuma Shuriken, Nunchaku, and a Kusarigama." Iyasu offhandedly listed.

Koji and Unido both stared at the girl oddly. She barely noticed as she looked through her pack again. A short cough alerted them all to Shikadai's presence.

"You three ready?" Shikadai asked.

"Yes Sensei!" All three responded as one.

"Then let's get a move on." Shikadai ordered cheerily…

"So you're our team up from Rain?" Shikadai asked the four shinobi assembled in front of him.

All four were dressed similarly to one another, black pants grey shirts and gas masks covering the lower halves of their faces.

A click sounded before the Jounin of their team spoke up saying, "Yes. We were sent to ensure that this mission is completely properly and that you are then on your way back home."

"I guess despite the treaty and alliances you still don't trust the leaf too much." Shikadai grunted out.

"We still prefer our privacy over your villages openness." A gennin spoke up before the Jounin snapped his head around to stare at him.

"Either way let's get going and get this handled." Shikadai shook his head…

"Koji are you in place?" Shikadai's voice asked over the radio.

"Yes Sensei." The response fired back.

"Iyasu?" he questioned next.

"Yes." Iyasu told him.

"Unido?" he finished off.

"Correct." Unido stated in monotone.

"Move in." Shikadai ordered.

Out of the trees a combination of kunai, water bullets, and earth projectiles flew towards the small bandit camp. All of their first line perimeter guards dropped to the ground. Less than a few seconds passed as the shinobi group exited the trees and moved into the next perimeter line, quickly silencing the guards waiting there.

Entering the main bulk of the camps setup they split into groups of two. Koji and Iyasu found themselves moving forward together towards the central tent. Every bandit they passed fell either to the flash of the scythe end of a kusarigama or to the quick slashing of a tanto. Finally entering the tent the two of them found a large man wearing a white vest and green combat shorts. He held a large Kanobo in his right hand, resting the head of it on the ground.

"I guess the villages finally took notice." He growled out.

"Koji you think we should get Sensei?" Iyasu asked.

"Probably but-" Koji began when the man suddenly turned and swung his club.

The two gennin barely dodged the strike and were both amazed as a large swath of earth was thrown into the air. Where they had once been standing now a chunk of the ground appeared to be missing.

"-I don't think he's going to let us." Koji finished.

"Hold him off till the others get here?" Iyasu questioned.

"But if you see an opportunity take him out." Koji responded.

Iyasu nodded as she readied six shuriken. Koji placed his tanto in front of him in his starting stance. The shuriken flew forward in a horizontal line forcing the man to bring his club up to block. As it covered is forward line of sight Koji charged and struck out towards his stomach. The man jumped back from the attack swinging his blade out. Koji attempted to get out of the way, almost succeeding, when the heavy slab of wood slammed into his side and threw him across the tent.

Coming to a stop after rolling for a few feet Koji popped up to see the man charging Iyasu. The girl dodged to the left as she threw out the chain section of her kusarigama, wrapping it around the man's weapon. Smiling she pulled hard to disarm him, only to have him pull back and have her rapidly moving towards him. Koji rushed forward and grabbed Iyasu before she collided with the man's fist.

"He has my father's old kusarigama Koji." Iyasu whispered.

"We'll get it back once we have him dead." Koji told her. "You know the lightning shuriken technique, right?"

Iyasu nodded having an idea of where Koji was going with his plan. The boy did a few quick handsigns and spit out three larger than average sized water bullets, one attempting to hit the man and two heading right for his feet. Without pause Iyasu let loose her lightning infused shuriken towards the puddle at his feet.

The man appeared to spasm and Koji started to rush forward to finish off the fight. As he closed though the man shook off the shock and started his own handsigns. Koji barely had enough time to reverse his direction and dodge the fireball that spewed forth. Landing on his feet at the edge of the fire he prepared to move back in when the earth under the man burst open and dark green blur punched into his chin.

"Unido!" Iyasu exclaimed. "Where is Sensei?"

"Right here!" Shikadai yelled out as his shadow connected with the large man. "Shadow possession complete. Guys finish this already!"

"Right sensei!" the three gennin said as one before all moving forward to strike the final blow…


End file.
